A young woman with a Harmony ukelele opened with a traditional folk song
April 19, 2021 11:01 PM Subscribe
Earliest known recording of Joni Mitchell, thought lost forever, found in B.C. basement. Summer 1963. Joni Mitchell. The House Of The Rising Sun.
What a superb performance of that song!
I am utterly shocked she was that good that early in her career.
posted by jamjam at 12:50 AM on April 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
I am utterly shocked she was that good that early in her career.
posted by jamjam at 12:50 AM on April 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
That voice.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 1:45 AM on April 20, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Mr. Yuck at 1:45 AM on April 20, 2021 [4 favorites]
Thank you - that was lovely!
Does anyone know if Mitchell has recovered from what she defined as Morgellon's Disease?
posted by Dressed to Kill at 2:38 AM on April 20, 2021
Does anyone know if Mitchell has recovered from what she defined as Morgellon's Disease?
posted by Dressed to Kill at 2:38 AM on April 20, 2021
What a superb performance of that song!
I am utterly shocked she was that good that early in her career.
posted by jamjam at 2:50 AM on April 20
A friend sent me that song, said "Hey, I think you might enjoy this."
I am blown out by her take on that song. It's understated, it's elegant, it's crystal clear, it's perfectly beautiful.
She pulls this off at 19.
I debated -- should I post this on The Blue or not. It's one song, that's a thin post maybe. But it's so, so beautiful. Plus it's more than only that song -- it's the whole story behind it, a tape lost in a basement for 50 years -- would the tape be trashed maybe, would 1963 equipment be able to capture her as well as it did. Great story.
So the back-story is interesting. But what really caught me, and I thought might catch others here, is how talented she was at 19.
posted by dancestoblue at 3:09 AM on April 20, 2021 [13 favorites]
I am utterly shocked she was that good that early in her career.
posted by jamjam at 2:50 AM on April 20
A friend sent me that song, said "Hey, I think you might enjoy this."
I am blown out by her take on that song. It's understated, it's elegant, it's crystal clear, it's perfectly beautiful.
She pulls this off at 19.
I debated -- should I post this on The Blue or not. It's one song, that's a thin post maybe. But it's so, so beautiful. Plus it's more than only that song -- it's the whole story behind it, a tape lost in a basement for 50 years -- would the tape be trashed maybe, would 1963 equipment be able to capture her as well as it did. Great story.
So the back-story is interesting. But what really caught me, and I thought might catch others here, is how talented she was at 19.
posted by dancestoblue at 3:09 AM on April 20, 2021 [13 favorites]
Does anyone know if Mitchell has recovered from what she defined as Morgellon's Disease?
I do not know, but she survived a brain aneurysm a few years ago, and has made a few public appearances over the last couple of years.
posted by thelonius at 3:43 AM on April 20, 2021
I do not know, but she survived a brain aneurysm a few years ago, and has made a few public appearances over the last couple of years.
posted by thelonius at 3:43 AM on April 20, 2021
I wonder how the ukulele was tuned
posted by thelonius at 4:02 AM on April 20, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 4:02 AM on April 20, 2021 [6 favorites]
I wonder how the ukulele was tuned
The first link above to the CBC article has an embedded YouTube video of the first time the newly discovered tape is played. In it, at about 2:10, they say: it's a baritone ukulele, usually tuned like a guitar, but with Joni Mitchell, you never know.
posted by ShooBoo at 6:55 AM on April 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
The first link above to the CBC article has an embedded YouTube video of the first time the newly discovered tape is played. In it, at about 2:10, they say: it's a baritone ukulele, usually tuned like a guitar, but with Joni Mitchell, you never know.
posted by ShooBoo at 6:55 AM on April 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
yes that was the joke
posted by thelonius at 7:06 AM on April 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 7:06 AM on April 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
Beautiful.
posted by Liquidwolf at 9:53 AM on April 20, 2021
posted by Liquidwolf at 9:53 AM on April 20, 2021
Joni Mitchell Archives Volume One starts with 'The House of the Rising Sun,' and it ends with a previously-unreleased full recording of a 1967 concert at Canterbury House in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Here are early versions of 'Morning Morgantown' and 'Both Sides Now.'
posted by box at 10:23 AM on April 20, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by box at 10:23 AM on April 20, 2021 [3 favorites]
Joni Mitchell Archives Volume One starts with 'The House of the Rising Sun,' and it ends with a previously-unreleased full recording of a 1967 concert at Canterbury House in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Here are early versions of 'Morning Morgantown' and 'Both Sides Now.'
posted by box at 12:23 PM on April 20
Great find. I wish we could put it into original post and start over again.
posted by dancestoblue at 12:39 PM on April 20, 2021
posted by box at 12:23 PM on April 20
Great find. I wish we could put it into original post and start over again.
posted by dancestoblue at 12:39 PM on April 20, 2021
I don't think I've ever used the word "sublime" before other than maybe ironically, but damn. And at 19. That was just sublime.
posted by Mchelly at 1:04 PM on April 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Mchelly at 1:04 PM on April 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
The story of the song itself is the subject of Chasing the Rising Sun: The Journey of an American Song. Many twists and turns.
posted by BWA at 2:27 PM on April 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by BWA at 2:27 PM on April 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
On a related note:
On May 6, 1961, 19-year-old Bob Dylan travelled to the Indian Neck Festival, held at the Montowesi Hotel in Branford, Connecticut to perform a small set.posted by y2karl at 3:46 PM on April 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
The sound, as well as the performance, are both surprisingly amazing.
posted by umbú at 12:50 PM on April 21, 2021
posted by umbú at 12:50 PM on April 21, 2021
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